the Anus sermon

Pretty well every one traveling in this Family’s vehicle yesterday, agreed that they enjoyed an excellent sermon, from Sharon (and we would add: "as usual"!) It was her first Sunday to manage the worship service all-by-herself (Rob usually did it), and things seemed quite fine.

In our series on our Values Statement (something for each letter of the word "Sheperd"), we’re on the second letter, ‘H’, which stands for Holy Spirit Gift-Based ministry. Here’s what we "gleaned" from the sermon (maybe not the same points someone else would have picked out, remember).

Other religions do look similar to Christianity in many ways, but only Christians seek to mix people of different castes.

In 1 Cor. 12:4-6, you can see that each member of the Trinity is involved in the Gifts.

Although the Trinity is a mystery (how can 3 be 1?), we know that Father, Son and Spirit are all equal, and that each of them defers to the others. Their unity AND diversity is our example.

As much as we value independence, we were created to be interdependent.

In Paul’s illustration of everyone being "members of one body", the Greek actually means: "members of one another", which is more difficult.

He uses this illustration to show: the importance of unity (again, the one-ness of God is what we should strive for), the importance of diversity (each part of the body has it’s own gift), and the equality of each individual (every gift is vital to the whole–even the least should be treated like "the Queen of England").

Interesting to see how GIFTS gets into UNITY, eh? After all, the Gifts of the Spirit are given to us for the purpose of "building each other up", in simple language: to help each other; which of course would lead to unity, and must begin with humility. Humility is key for unity.

An interesting point that Sharon mentioned somewhere in there, is that someone has said that each person should choose TWO main areas of ministry–one area that is your passion, and one area where there is the most need.

OH–mustn’t forget to mention something that we’re wondering if some people might… say something… Sharon included an interesting example. She told a story about the Anus, who the rest of the body thought was unimportant, so he decided to stop "breathing"… soon the stomach got sick, etc…. you can just imagine the story. (One Sam can relate to! :D) There was certainly a lot of laughter, but those who think children should be quiet in church, and everyone should be dressy, etc., might think it was irreverent… however–didn’t we just say not long ago that EVERYTHING GOD CREATED is sacred? ;)